CASSIAN
I should have gone to class. My students would be waiting, probably grateful for the reprieve when I didn't show up. Instead, I found myself walking toward the administrative wing, my footsteps echoing on the polished marble floors.
The scent of pine and something floral still clung to my jacket from the infirmary. Rae's scent. It shouldn't have affected me the way it did, but here I was, abandoning my responsibilities because I couldn't shake the image of her trying to hide her tears behind defiance.
The headmistress's office door was heavy oak, carved with intricate patterns. I knocked twice and waited.
"Come in."
Miyori Fox sat behind her massive desk, her hair pulled back in a perfect chignon. She looked up from her tablet with those unsettling violet eyes that seemed to s
